Dr Temperance Brennan
by Mystic Dodo
Summary: Teachers and parents always commented on the uniqueness of her name but her peers sneered at how uncommon and old it was. Everybody knew her name. Maybe she could use that to her advantage?


**Dr Temperance Brennan**

**Author: **Mystic Dodo

**Originally Published:** 2011

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After her parents went missing, Temperance Brennan always hoped that they would return. She stayed glued to the windows while her brother Russ blundered around the house, lost and confused about what to do. She jumped every time the phone rang and she waited anxiously by the front in case any letters arrived.

They didn't return, and Russ left her in foster care.

Her first foster parents had commented on her name; "how unusual," they complimented the silent teenager. "You definitely stick out in the crowd with that beautiful name. Would you like to come home with us, Temperance?"

The attention she received at her new school made her uncomfortable. She was a foster child. She was a genius; she could already speak conversational German and French. Perhaps more importantly, it was her name that made people whisper about her. Temperance was uneasy; teachers and parents always commented on the uniqueness of her name but her peers sneered at how uncommon and old it was. Everybody knew her name.

Despite knowing that her parents _knew_ her name (after all, they did give it to her), after the disastrous second foster home she was in she decided to use her name as a manner of attention. What if her parents were looking for her? She didn't place a single ounce of faith into the foster care system to let her parents know where she was... She had no idea how she could go about looking for her parents so maybe she could draw them back to her? She threw herself into her college work, receiving the top scores in all of her subjects. She mastered Spanish and began to learn Japanese. She decided that she would become an anthropologist; her father was a science teacher. She would become a scientist.

She graduated with honours from University. She excelled in her career. Within years of graduation, everybody began to know her name; Doctor Temperance Brennan, world renown forensic anthropologist.

However, it turned out that not everybody did know her name...

Seeley Booth from the F.B.I.

Even though she believed, deep down, that if her parents were alive they would have contacted their famous daughter by now, when she saw the handsome badge wielding man from the F.B.I entering her lecture room, she hoped that it was due to information on her parents. It wasn't of course... he needed her help on a murder investigation. Together, they found the murderer and gained a great deal of publicity. Their case caused quite a stir; after all, she technically had assaulted a federal agent. However, no charges were pressed and Temperance Brennan returned to her duty on being a forensic anthropologist. She continued travelling the world and her discoveries made it into history books.

Books...

Her mother liked to read. Maybe she should also write?

As a plot unfolded in her mind, dark eyes and a tall, well structured but infuriating F.B.I agent crossed her mind.

Within a year, Doctor Temperance Brennan released her first novel and it made a beeline towards the best selling list. And, whilst returning from a trip on identifying genocide victims, she was found... but not by her parents. It was Booth; she was angry but touched that he sought her out to "mend bridges". He requested her help on another murder case and thus their dynamic partnership blossomed and grew.

He had found her and although it was not rational (something which she proclaimed to be excellent at), deep down, after all of these silent years, she still hoped that one day her parents would contact her.

However, Booth always found her; he found her when she was kidnapped by Kenton. He found her when she was buried alive with Hodgins. He never left her, not unlike her parents and her brother and a trail of unsuccessful lovers. He was always there with his affectionate nickname of "Bones" and his warm smile. Although she first feared - completely irrationally - that the nickname would mean that she wouldn't be found by the two people she desperately wanted back in her life, the endearment grew on her and the almost obsession of having people know and acknowledge her unusual name, Temperance, faded.

Nonetheless, she continued to write. She continued helping the F.B.I. She continued her job as an anthropologist. She introduced herself as Doctor Temperance Brennan, her name repeatedly spoken after the incident of her and Jack Hogdins gravedigger experience propelled them into unwanted limelight. She found that she hated her name and the publicity it brought; she didn't _want_ to be known as Temperance Brennan, a survivor of the gravedigger. She wanted to be known as Doctor Temperance Brennan, a world famous anthropologist and bestselling author.

Despite the unwanted attention, the publicity of the gravedigging episode did reap some benefits. Her father was in her life again.

It turned out she was originally known as Joy Keenan. It didn't stand out as much as Temperance Brennan... she had built her life around that name. Besides, Doctor Temperance "Bones" Brennan had a ring to it compared to Joy Kennan with better associations. With her unusual yet fantastic name, she was a daughter. She was a sister. She was a friend, a colleague and a partner. She was Bones. She was Brennan. She was Tempe. She was Doctor Temperance Brennan.


End file.
